


Pen Pal

by StephaniD



Category: Elsewhere University (Webcomic)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-02
Updated: 2017-03-02
Packaged: 2018-09-27 21:41:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10052501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StephaniD/pseuds/StephaniD
Summary: I'm very interested in the majority of the student body at Elsewhere U, those who live in a liminal space and refuse to see the weirdness around them.Also sent to the official tumblr, but this is the more edited version.This is my first tine writing in second person POV, it just happened.





	

It started dully enough. Someone had written ' **Hello** ’ inside the bathroom (in fancy curly purple script, so extra). Juvenile, but it was the single-stall Everyone bathroom in the second sub-basement of the library, so you were willing to write it off as a bored freshman or something. And maybe you were a little bored yourself. Or lonely. Because you replied. You bought a green Sharpie specifically to respond to the purple word on the light orange paint.  
' **Hey. W/ u studying**?'

You went to check the little-used bathroom a few days later.  
' **Humans** ' was written in beautiful purple handwriting under your green message.  
' **Psych major, cool. I'm eng-his double major** '

You hoped the janitors wouldn't clean off or paint over this little conversation. It was a little like having a pen pal. A couple days later you had another reply in purple swirls.  
' **Would you do something for me**?'  
The request was weird, but so were college kids; and you could always just  not do it, you didn't know who you were talking with, and were pretty sure you weren't being followed. Like 75% sure. 70% sure.

' **W/ u need?** '  
' **Bells NOT silver candy cream beads appreciation** '  
It took you a few seconds to understand that the beautiful words written at all angles on the wall were a list. (Seriously? Upside down?) It was a pretty cheap request, aside from 'appreciation’, but most college kids lived off dark humor, so you didn't pay it much mind. Maybe they were doing a psych-sociology experiment; you didn't want to screw up their data.

You got some cheap gold colored aluminum jingle bells, thread, and a package of plastic beads at the craft store. They were the same kind of cheap beads a lot of the art majors wore on necklaces, so you figured that's what your pen pal wanted. At the grocery store you added a box of unflavored single coffee creamers and a bunch of candy, including caramel with creme centers (you couldn't tell if 'cream’ and 'candy’ were meant to be combined on the bathroom wall or not). You brought it to the single stall bathroom in the second sub-basement of the library and left the bag in the corner. You threw out the receipts, thought a second, then tore out a piece of paper from your notebook and grabbed your green marker.  
' **I appreciate you :)** ' You wrote, messily folding the paper into a crane, the only origami you know, and leaving it on top.

You went back to your dorm, finding a small pile of pretty-looking junk on a huge leaf on your pillow. Your roommate wasn't there. Must be a weird prank or some new internet challenge or something. You sorted through the odds and ends. Pretty rocks, tiny animals carved from wood, marbles, pieces of broken safety glass cracked through with green-blue and so fragile that some crumbled off the sides when you picked them up (you cleaned the miniscule slivers of broken glass off your pillow with some duct tape)… Eventually you found a little purple origami turtle. You opened it to find writing inside.  
' **Your assistance is appreciated*'  
** There was no other asterisk anywhere else on the paper, so it must have been a stylistic choice instead of a grammatical one. You put it out of your mind and carefully refolded the turtle and set everything on your desk to deal with later. Maybe you’d give it to an art student, they always seemed to have little trinkets like that. Or trade, the student body really liked trading, or maybe most colleges full of poor college kids were like that. 

 

\-----------

 

In the week before midterms you suddenly awoke one night. You almost groaned and rolled over to preserve what sleep you could, but when you grabbed your blanket your hand landed on paper. You squinted at the post-it in the dim light, making out swirly fancy handwriting. Across the room, your roommate was asleep. Whatever. You stuck it to your phone and went back to sleep. 

You read the post-it the next morning.  
‘ ***I can help** ’  
“What does that mean?” You asked your roommate, slightly accusingly. He frowned at the note.  
“You should probably leave this alone.” He told you seriously.  
“Then why did it you stick it to me last night?”  
“What? No I didn’t. My handwriting looks nothing like that.” He had a point.  
“Are you having a friend write the notes? Is a friend of yours messing with me by way of you?”  
“No, I have no idea what that’s about. But if I were you, I’d steer clear of it. And make sure you have iron, salt, and cream on you.” Pippin was a theatre major, so he may be lying, but if he wasn’t lying his superstitions were true to his nature. The only group that could rival theatre majors for superstitions were D&D players. You frowned at the post-it, debating what to do. You decided to stick it to the backside of the dorm door, adding your own post-it below in your green marker.  
‘ **Help how?** ’ You didn’t think your roommate was the plagiarizing type, hopefully he only meant studying together because of how english, history, and theatre all came together.

You checked the back of the door after lunch to find a new post-it.  
‘ **If you want to find out, come to the pool party tonight. I’ll find you.** ’  
You debated. You knew you needed to study for midterms, but what if your roommate could help? What if he was trying (in a really weird roundabout way) to take your mind off midterms and get you to relax? You decided to go.

The pool party was more fun than you thought it’d be. It was hard to bring crystalline salt in the pool, so many students had tied or sewn some sort of iron to their swimsuit, or were wearing iron jewelry, but you didn't bother with the weird tradition. You jumped in the deep end and swam around there early in the evening, before you could get drunk. They were playing good music, had more than just cheap beer in the coolers. You were genuinely having a good time. 

“Hey.” A smiling girl in a bikini put her arm around your shoulders. “You’re Green Marker, right?”  
“You’re Purple Marker?” You asked. She nodded. “How do you know Pippin?”  
“I know all the theatre majors in passing. And I know anyone down that deep in the library could use a hand come test time. What do you say?”  
“You’d help me study? Without plagiarizing?”  
“You’d have to provide me with something, too. Fair’s fair.”  
“What would you want?”  
“What are you willing to offer?”  
“More candy?” You tried.  
“To help you ace your midterms?”  
“Okay, um…”

You tried to think. People were always saying to never wager something you couldn’t bear to lose. What was something valuable enough to get studying help, but that you could bear to lose? You glanced around and realized you’d been slowly walking away from the party, into the darkness. “I’ll give you…” She wanted appreciation. “I’ll give you my friendship. How’s that?”  
“Wonderful.” She sighed, her eyes gleaming in the moonlight. 


End file.
